When Perry boys varsity basketball head coach Dennis McDonnell resigned for personal reasons at the end of the season, it left the school searching for their second new leader since Ned Menke stepped down after the 2015-16 campaign.
The Bluejays did not have to look far, and on Wednesday moved assistant coach Aaron Lyons up a few chairs on the bench and into the top position. The hiring will become official in June when, as expected, the Perry School Board approves the move.
Lyons, 25, has spent the past two seasons as a junior varsity coach and assistant under McDonnell after spending the prior two seasons in the same position at Greene County.
“Four years (as an assistant) may not seem like a long time to some people, but I believe I am ready to be a head coach, which has always been my goal,” Lyons said. “I am grateful Tom Lipovac (Perry activities director) and Clark Wicks (Perry superintendent) have faith in me to do the job. I love the school and the kids here and love the community, so to have this opportunity here is very exciting.”
Lyons started all four years on the court at East Greene and was both all-conference and all-district. An all-around athlete, he lettered numerous times in football and track and collected five letters for Dana Fink’s Hawk baseball team, which advanced to the state tournament in 2009.
He also served as president of his class (2011) and played basketball one year at Buena Vista before earning a degree in business from DMACC in Ankeny. He and wife Megan live in Perry, where he works for TC&B.
“I chose to live and work here, which I think shows my commitment to Perry,” Lyons said. “I will bring that same commitment to the basketball program.”
Eleven seniors graduated from the team this year, and Lyons will nearly be starting from scratch, which he said he sees as an opportunity rather than a problem.
“I will be expecting those senior coming out next year to display the kind of leadership I know they have,” he said. “I like the kids we have here, their desire to learn what I can teach and their eagerness to have success. We can build off that.”
Lyons, whose father, Dean, was the East Greene boys head coach for over two decades, recently stepped down after four years as girls head coach at Greene County. The example the elder Lyons set will be one the son follows, Aaron said.
“You cannot be caught believing there is only one way to do things — you have to be able to adjust as you go,” he said. “I will be working hard making our varsity program as visible as possible in the community, especially at the rec center and with our youth. I want to encourage them to want to play basketball, to want to give it a try and stick with it and one day be a Bluejay and have that Bluejay pride.”
